This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Advances in the petroleum industry have allowed access to oil and gas drilling locations and reservoirs that were previously inaccessible due to technological limitations. For example, technological advances have allowed drilling of offshore wells at increasing water depths and in increasingly harsh environments, permitting oil and gas resource owners to successfully drill for otherwise inaccessible energy resources. To drill for oil and gas offshore, it is desirable to have stable offshore platforms and/or floating vessels from which to drill and recover the energy resources. Techniques to stabilize the offshore platforms and floating vessels include, for example, the use of mooring systems and/or dynamic positioning systems. However, these systems may not always adequately stabilize components descending from the offshore platforms and floating vessels to the seafloor wellhead.
For example, a riser string (e.g., a pipe or series of pipes that connects the offshore platforms or floating vessels to the floor of the sea) may be used to transport drill pipe, casing, drilling mud, production materials or hydrocarbons between the offshore platform or floating vessel and a wellhead. The riser is suspended between the offshore platform or floating vessel and the wellhead, and may experience forces, such as underwater currents, that cause deflection (e.g., bending or movement) in the riser. Acceptable deflection can be measured by the deflection along the riser, and also at, for example, select points along the riser. These points may be located, for example, at the offshore platform or floating vessel and at the wellhead. If the deflection resulting from underwater current is too great, drilling must cease and the drilling location or reservoir may not be accessible due to such technological constraints. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide techniques to stabilize risers in offshore drilling and energy resource recovery environments.